Pepper in the Library" Students' First Impressions

Abstract

Humanoid robots through their embodied features and range of interactivity are proving to be effective as service or information disseminating agents. However in the Australian context, the deployment and evaluation of robots in public spaces is limited. In this study, we report on an observation based exploratory study of university students interaction with the Pepper humanoid robot over 8 days in the library of an Australian university. The students' first impressions of Pepper using the top-of-mind association showed that they were in general wary and scared of service robots. Many considered Pepper as creepy. Their positive remarks were related to the novelty of Pepper's features and technology. In conclusion, we speculate on the results obtained and what they mean for the integration of humanoid robots in mainstream Australian society.